


Starting Over

by relic_amaranth



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Gender-neutral Reader, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Other, Reader-Insert, Reconciliation, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 22:10:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14458845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/relic_amaranth/pseuds/relic_amaranth
Summary: Gabriel’s plan for revenge develops a new sense of urgency when you get caught up in it.





	Starting Over

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Spoilery for 13x20, Reader peril, Loki seducing Reader while impersonating Gabriel (PG-13 levels and it doesn’t go all the way but it's still attempted rape by deception)
> 
> A/N: I was trying to work on a Chuck thing this week but then that episode happened and just :flailing: So much! I <3 it so much. So this is an alternate take on 13x20 that hopefully isn’t too confusing. It shouldn’t be, I don’t think. Is this the most obvious take on a Reader-insert I could manage for that episode? Yes! Do I care? Nope! I tried to make it fluffier but ~feelings~ got in the way. Still, I tried to make it semi-fluffy. It’s a little rushed, a little messy, but if those are things you don’t mind too much, I hope you can enjoy this thing.

 

 

Loki has said his piece.

Or so Gabriel thinks.

He thinks Loki has gotten more than his fair share, but the archangel isn’t really in a position to do much for it, trapped in a circle of fire while his backup hunters pace and fret in a cage in the corner. He can sympathize with Dean’s restlessness. Gabriel’s outward expression is a mask of cool, but inside he’s snarling.

He’s had enough being trapped to last a whole host of human lifetimes.

Loki smiles. It’s a shift in mood and immediately sets Gabriel on edge. As it should. “You took what was important to me,” Loki says. “I think it’s only fair I return the favor.”

Gabriel’s eyes widen but Loki ignores him and produces a bouquet of white lilies from thin air. The demi-god shuts his eyes and presses his face into the petals, breathing deeply. His mouth is twisted into a cruel smirk when he takes the bunch from his face and holds it up to rest it on his shoulder. “Does your lover like flowers, Gabriel?” But before Gabriel can even open his mouth, Loki says, “I guess I’ll find out.”

“The hell you will!” Dean snarls and bangs on the bars. “You stay away from–”

Loki waves his hand and though Dean keeps shouting, he might as well be a TV on mute. Dean grabs his throat. The trickster turns back to the archangel and doesn’t flinch from his intense, glowing glare. He just waggles his fingers in a very Gabriel-esque way. “I’ll give them your love,” he says and disappears just as a crack of lightning splits the air.

 

You’re settling in for the night when you think that you _could_ call Dean. Just to…check in. See how things are going.

You stare at your phone for a few seconds.

And then you look for something else to do.

Dean and Sam had asked you to go along on their hunt for the recalcitrant archangel but you had decided to pass. Sam got it. Even Dean, with his ever-sinking mood, didn’t give you too much guff about it. And you had seriously considered it. Maybe Gabriel just needed some time, some convincing, but…

Gabriel left. Again. That’s not something you can just accept, even though he’s obviously a mess after what Asmodeus put him through. In fact it just makes it worse– Gabriel is out there, alone, underpowered, where any demon or monster can get at him. In the time since he split, and you took off on your own, he has visited you sporadically –you haven’t told San or Dean because it’s not their business– and he keeps telling you it’s for your own good, which is apparently why he ghosted on you the first time after Lucifer. You’re not buying it, but you don’t want to harm him or say anything that will create a permanent rift right now while you’re reeling from too many revelations at once and he’s hurting from years of torture. So, by mutual agreement, you’re taking time apart.

Someone knocks on the door and you immediately ready your favorite knife, feeling over the wards etched into the handle that give it a lot more power and properties than other people credit it with. But a quick look out of the peephole loosens some of the tension in your body and you huff as you open the door to Gabriel’s smiling face.

You roll your eyes. “Gabriel. What are you doing here?”

His expression softens for a moment, so much so that he looks a little lost. Then the walls go back up and he holds a bunch of flowers out to you. “Well, not to get all sappy or anything…” he says with his usual arrogance, but it drops just a little when he says, “I missed you.”

Your resolve melts but there’s something about the flowers that makes you uneasy. You don’t know much about them but they look familiar in a way that rankles– they’re pretty but sterile white, not nearly as colorful as a bunch that you would expect to receive from Gabriel. Still, you take them, noting that you brush Gabriel’s hand with your iron and silver rings and nothing happens. Also, he steps right over the rug with the devil’s trap painted underneath.

Right; you tell yourself to stop being so paranoid. Gabriel might be a little weaker than usual but he’s survived a long time. Besides, Dean and Sam had tiptoed around you for months after you were held hostage by demons and that imprisonment had only lasted a few days. Gabriel is entitled to act a little weird if he wants to.

“Missed me, huh?” you ask and put the flowers on the nightstand. As soon as you turn back to face him his arms are around your back, pulling you flush with his body as his mouth melds with yours. You freeze for a moment at the nigh-unfamiliar touch, and then you surrender to it. You haven’t been with him in so long that it’s weird, but there are little touchstones you know. The way he holds you so possessively, how his hands grip your shirt, your sides, your hips, not content to settle in any one place, and the _very_ familiar way you find yourself half back on the bed, Gabriel above you, and you without any idea of how you’ve ended up here.

“We were taking a break, Gabriel,” you say, trying to keep the smile off your face. You fail as he starts kissing down your neck.

“Can we take a break from the break?” he chuckles and does a little suckle-nip move that makes your eyes flutter shut against your will. God above– or wherever– you’ve missed this. You’re probably even a little rusty and Gabriel’s going to make fun of you when he finds out. That doesn’t really bother you, though.

What does bother you is the way, after you’ve both done away with the inconvenience of your shirt, he kisses the scar on your side. You blink, actually, because that holds a sore memory for the both of you, and Gabriel, you _know_ , remembers it. You try to chalk it up to momentary forgetfulness but hunter sirens are going off in your head. You try to sneak your hand to your knife.

‘Gabriel’ stills and asks, “What gave me away?”

You try to grab the hilt but it slips right out of your hand, and the fake masquerading as your archangel is suddenly in your face, pinning you to the bed with a supernaturally strong hand on your shoulder and the edge of your own blade at your throat.

You don’t dare even swallow. “Who the hell are you?”

His smirk is both like and unlike Gabriel’s. “They call me Loki,” he says mockingly. “Do you have any idea what your lover has been up to?”

“No. And I don’t care.” That’s partly a lie. You can guess, but you don’t know for sure.

Loki just tilts his head a little. “Even though it’s why I’m here to kill you?”

“Still don’t care.” Still a lie. However there is one thing you’re curious enough to ask about. “How did you know?”

“Hm?”

Gabriel wears a lot of masks. Only a few know there’s more behind them. Fewer still know _what_ lies behind them. “How did you know how to act with me?”

“Oh, well.” Loki shrugs and his smile is bitter. “We were friends once.”

“Friends.” Anger razes through you. You are _slightly_ aware of the acrimony between Gabriel and Loki, but he had left that part out. “You sold him to _demons_.”

He pressed the tip of the knife at your chin. “Mind your tongue.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me?”

“Much like he killed my father.”

It takes you a moment. “Wait, Odin? Lucifer–”

The point sinks in a little and you feel blood slide down your skin. “Gabriel promised to stay _out_ of angelic business. He broke that promise and because of that my father– and many others– died.”

You try to follow the logic. It might be slightly hard with the asshole you’re supposed to sympathize with being on the verge of murdering you and all that. “Odin and the other gods were always going to get killed by Lucifer; he’s not the kind of guy you talk it out with. Gabriel tried to get them to–!”

Loki crushes your shoulder in his hand and you cry out, but you can’t move with the knife at your neck. “I’m not sure yet how I’d like to do this. Do I slit your throat, or do I go for something a little more…” He moves the knife to aim right over your heart. “…Poignant?” His eyes narrow and he smiles darkly. “Maybe I should take you back to him. Stab you in just the right ways to make you bleed out while he watches helplessly from his ring of holy fire.”

“It’s good to know you’re still as much of a Chatty Cathy as you’ve always been.”

Gabriel. The real one. Also, two guns cocking in unison. Loki doesn’t move, doesn’t even look, and only changes his expression to smile. “You’re just in time, Gabriel,” he says and the smile falls. “I’ll make it quick.”

You speak the word to activate a rune on the knife that makes it unable to be moved. Loki actually looks confused at that and you only have a second so you slide down the side of the bed, hissing in pain as the tip of the knife slices through some of your skin on the way, and how you have to yank your broken collarbone out of Loki’s hand.

Gabriel comes through– literally, pushing a wooden sword through Loki’s chest so quickly that you feel it rip through some of your hair. Loki lets out a pained grunt but you take no chances and toss yourself away even as his body falls.

“Fuck!” you snarl at the pain but then Sam and Dean are there, helping you back and up, and Gabriel is…standing and staring at his former friend’s body with so much blankness it makes your heart rattle. He then looks at you, eyes widening when he sees the state you’re in. He rushes over and when he holds your arms his grip is weak and now that he’s close you can see he’s pale and sweating. He starts to shake.

“Are you– did he–” Gabe’s working up to a real angel rage so you lift your good arm and press your palm to his face. He settles almost immediately and leans into your touch like it’s the kindest thing he’s felt in years. You have to blink back tears at the thought that it probably is.

“I’m okay, Gabe. I…figured out he wasn’t you,” you say. He nods, leaning into you, and it’s all either of you can do to stay standing.

“Dean, come here.”

“What if he–”

“Dean!”

You’re grateful for Sam, because you’re not going to be near as nice to Dean if you have to make him leave. Dean shoots Gabriel a glare and you shoot him one right back until the hunters are out of sight, out of mind.

Once the door shuts, you and Gabriel sink to the floor. He eyes your injuries though. “Don’t even think about it,” you say firmly. “It’s too much. I’ll ask Cas to help later.”

Gabriel mutters something under his breath that you don’t quite catch. It’s probably better that way. He’s spitting mad. “I _hate_ being so weak. I hate that I couldn’t…”

“Hey.” You press your forehead to his and he inhales sharply. You want to kiss him, to really feel _him_ , but you hold yourself back. “It’s okay. Thanks for being my knight in shining armor.”

He lets out a little laugh. “Thanks for helping me get my revenge,” he says and though his eyes flick towards the body, you’re not sure he even sees it.

He’s quiet and broody. You’re at a loss. “How do you feel?”

“Peachy,” he says automatically. Of course. He looks down and away, avoiding your eyes. “I feel like I should be asking you. That guy looks like such a chump; I mean, a face like that? I know we’re on a break but you’ve gotta have better standards than that, sugar.”

You force a smile. “We’re not on a break for me to date other people, you jerk.” You lightly knock your head into his.

“Then why are we?” he asks, dropping into sincerity. It’s quiet, just the two of you, and as safe as it gets as far as spaces for confessions.

“Because we both need time,” you say softly. “I’m…upset you didn’t come back. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and hurt you more, but it…it hurts. You left before and let me think you were dead. And when you came back after I thought I lost you forever you up and left again. I guess I see why,” you say, with a glance at Loki’s body. “But still. And you’re still healing, Gabriel. You’re going to be healing for a long time. I don’t want to…get in the way of that.”

“What if what I need to heal is you?” he asks.

“I don’t want you to cling to me because you’re desperate for comfort. I don’t want you to have to just settle for me because I’m sure and I’m here. We both deserve more than that,” you say. You grip his hand. “Maybe we just…take it slow.”

“Take it slow. Maybe have some second chances, huh?” Gabriel licks his lips and life reignites in his eyes. He leans back and rolls his shoulders. “I can do that.”

You chuckle, but you have to admit you feel emboldened at his steadiness. Even with your fucking shoulder shooting pain signals like fireworks are tearing at your bones. “That right?”

“Oh yeah.” Gabriel’s expression glints with familiar mischief and he leans in as though he’s about to impart a secret. What he actually says is: “You know, there must be something wrong with my eyes, ‘cause I can’t take them off you.” He tops it with a flirtatious wink. “I’m not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together.”

You laugh, tears teasing at your eyes. Second chances are nice. But classics are good too. You extend your hand and say what you did when you first met him, starting with your name and then, “I’m flattered, but I think I’m a little young for you.”

Gabriel blinks and then laughs. Despite the idea of starting completely anew, he kisses your hand and smirks up at you, lips still close. “I wouldn’t worry much about that, sweetheart.” He presses another kiss and continues to linger, your hand held securely in his. “I’ve got a good feeling about us.”

You lean in and rest your head on his shoulder. “So do I.”


End file.
